Absence Seizure

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Absence seizures involve brief, sudden lapses of consciousness. They're more common in children than adults. Someone having an absence seizure may look like he or she is staring into space for a few seconds. This type of seizure usually doesn't lead to physical injury.

Typically, this type of seizure lasts between 10 and 30 seconds. The person, most often a child aged 5 to 15, abruptly stops whatever he's doing (talking, walking) and appears to "stare into space." Absence seizures rarely cause a true convulsion in which the person falls down or collapses. Despite briefly losing consciousness, the person recovers fully with no lingering confusion or other ill effects.

Although there are no national statistics available about the prevalence of epilepsy, but it is estimated that there are at least 1.5–2.0 million people suffering from epilepsy, i.e. about 10-12 per 1000 people and mostly common in age group of 16-31 years. The prevalence of epilepsy is slightly high in recent years.